Marni Shows Love For Colors in Spring 2016 Campaign

The Marni spring/summer 2016 campaign is all about the simplicity of nature. Supermodel Suvi Koponen was cast for the photoshoot, which was shot by London-based photographer Tom Hunter. Lucinda Chambers styled the shots, and Sam McKnight and Tom Pecheux kept the hair and makeup, respectively, looking fresh and ready for each shot. Finally, Silvia Farago was at the helm of production.

With the vibrant, modern theme of the clothing on the runway, a simple foliage setting wasn’t exactly what we expected from Marni’s ad campaign this season, but the result was actually quite beautiful. The photographer relied heavily on the juxtaposition created between the nature and the bold colors of the apparel. Some clothes in the collection were artistic at the core, and these would have been the looks to make the most sense in a setting such as this, but the label chose to send out its brightest, most innovative pieces. The clothes are anything but embedded in these shots, forcing themselves as the focal points. So the most striking part of the photoshoot is sure to be the clothes, which is likely what the label was looking to accomplish.

We were definitely curious as to what this season’s campaign would entail, since there were mixed reviews toward the Marni SS 2016 RTW collection itself when it was released. But this certainly wasn’t what we had in mind. And this campaign, despite its beauty, still contains that level of uncertainty. Nothing about the campaign was necessarily bad or poorly executed, but sometimes it is difficult to decide whether or not any given shot actually works in favor of the brand.

This was especially strong with garments like the deconstructed polka dot/mesh dress, which was the strongest in the collection, but seemed the most out of place within the setting of the tree. In some regard, it was successful in that it’s eye catching, looks great on the model, and is able to align itself with the trunk of the tree. On the other hand, the setting seems to be disrupted by the jarring technologically-created print of the dress, not to mention the color. So for the most part, the garments benefitted from the stark difference by making them more noticeable and striking, but they ultimately did seem out of place.

Needless to say, each shot was beautiful in its own way. Regardless of questionable decisions, the clothes looked great on Koponen, and some of the darker or subtler garments looked lovely against the backdrop without disturbing the peace. I’d say Marni gets a thumbs up for making the campaign better than the photoshoot, but part of me wishes the garments had been given a more similar stage so we could have seen these clothes at their best. Hopefully the brand pulls out something great for their next ad campaign, because we know exactly how amazing a Marni collection/campaign combo can be.

Courtney is a student majoring in mass communication and professional writing. She works as a writer and editor, and has a wide variety of hobbies, such as fashion, reading/writing poetry, sewing, and playing video games.